Lucio Fulci's stamp on this meandering and largely forgettable soft-boiled thriller is pretty much limited to his name in the credits. Though Perversion Story pre-dates Fulci's emergence as one of the most beloved Italian horror directors of all time, most genre fans who take a look at this early experiment will end up wishing that he had found his dark muse sooner.
Granted, Perversion Story isn't unwatchable, and as a fairly standard twist-driven caper there are times when the film works quite well. Fulci certainly takes a stylish approach to the affair, and manages to wring a fair amount of suspense out of the often-incomprehensible plot. But the absurd denouement falls resoundingly flat, and any steam Fulci builds along the way is abruptly quelled when the film unravels in the final act.
The story centers around the womanizing Dr. Dumurrier, his shady mistress, and a stripper/prostitute who bears a striking resemblance to the physician's dead wife, Susan. When police discover that Mrs. Dumurrier was poisoned, suspicion naturally falls upon the doctor, who finds himself $2-million richer thanks to a particularly generous life insurance policy. As the plot unfolds, we discover that Dr. Dumurrier may be being framed for the murder, and more startlingly, that Susan may not actually be dead at all.
Despite the alternate titles' emphasis on the carnal components of the story, Fulci's reliance on soft-core sex to drive the movie is actually notably restrained. Only a couple of sequences venture into that territory, and the flat, mechanical nature of the performers' congress strips these sequences of much of their eroticism. However, Fulci does a fine job of using artistic lighting and angles to heighten the sensuality of these scenes, and thanks to nifty touches like a camera shot looking up through the mattress at the writhing bodies above, even if the actors look bored while they explore each other, you won't be bored watching them.
Elsewhere, the acting is decidedly above par, with excellent performances from Jean Sorel and the sultry Marisa Mell as Dr. Dumurrier and exotic dancer Monica Weston, respectively. The strongest moments of the film revolve around the sparring between these two characters, and the film doesn't really veer off track until the grander scheme takes center stage.
Some of the intricacies of the plot are a bit muddled and hard to digest, and the film errs by spending too much time forcing us to follow ultimately inconsequential characters in an attempt to plant red herrings. The basic story is sturdy enough on its own, and a more tidy presentation would probably have served it much better.
The climactic reveal by the character responsible for the machinations plaguing Dr. Dumurrier's life plays out like a James Bond super-criminal confessing their entire nefarious plot, and brings the dangling threads together in a lazy and unsatisfying fashion. The final fate that befalls the villains of the piece likewise fails to pack a punch, and when you really sit down and ponder the logistics of their comeuppance, it ends up being the most absurd element in the film. Worse, by the time this allegedly shocking finale arrives, things have become so tedious and dull that you probably won't really care what happens anyway.
Regardless of the more interesting elements at work here, even the most ardent Fulci completist isn't likely to visit this entry on his resume very often. However, if you simply need this in your library, I'd advise you to seek out the Severin DVD edition, which includes a CD of the solid musical score as a bonus. But my most sincere recommendation is to skip this entire fiasco and use the time to watch Zombie again instead.
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